(I know, I know - but I'm caught up now!)
So hard to pick, so I included a bonus title today. I couldn't choose until the day of, so I'm reviewing my "first runner-up" as well, because it's so cute and fun.
Dog In Charge
K. L. Going, illustrated by Dan Santat
ISBN: 9780803734791
"Good dog" has been left in charge of the 5 cats for the afternoon - will they be good? Nope.
Our dog is very happy to be a Good Dog. He sits, stays, and does dances for treats. When the people leave him in charge (of the 1,2,3,4- 5!) cats, he expects them to sit and stay also. They don't. Dog bosses them around, gets a little frantic, attempts bribery (and fails miserably at his own willpower) and finally sags into a nap of despair. But no worries - the kitties aren't bad, only active. They love that dog, and they'll make sure he's still considered a Good Dog when the people get back home.
Un Gato y un Perro / A Cat and a Dog
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Bob Kolar
ISBN: 0735818355
Bilingual, with Spanish as the primary text, about two mortal enemies who learn to help each other.
A very short story, and one that made me wish I was brave enough to try Spanish, but I don't speak it, and I'm afraid that some of my families DO, and I don't wish to cause offense or embarrass myself. Our cat and dog don't like each other one single bit, and they growl and hiss at each other, and always play alone, in their own ways, with their own toys - until the day comes when each toy is lost in just the perfect way that they need the other's help. I like that one of them thinks to help first without having to be asked, and the other one enthusiastically returns the favor. A bit too simplistic and over very quickly, but it all works for that short middle read,
Widget
Lyn Rossiter McFarland, illustrated by Jim McFarland
ISBN: 0374384282
Widget is a stray, so he's willing to do just about anything for a nice warm home - even become a cat.
I love Widget. It's the perfect story of fitting in and working with people. Widget is sick of being a stray, so when he finds Mrs Diggs and her six cats, he's pretty sure he's got it made - one small problem; "the girls" don't like dogs. No big deal - Widget can be just as catly as any of them! In fact, as he settles into his posh new life, Widget even occasionally forgets he IS a dog - until Mrs Diggs falls down one day and doesn't get back up. When meowing, hissing, and caterwauling for help does nothing, Widget risks it all by barking again, and inspires the girls. A beautiful story, and one I will always be happy to read.
Bonus Book:
Won Ton and Chopstick
Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
ISBN: 9780805099874
Won Ton's haiku book gets a sequel here, with a new puppy added to the family.
The conceit here is lovely, but the reading is a little odd with my age-group - haiku are notorious for being indirect and glancing and not-quite-exactly-to-the-point, which is lovely for reading to yourself, or with older children who are a bit experienced with metaphor and simile and conceptual thinking. It's less fitting for toddlers, unfortunately, despite the bright colors and really adorable pictures. Won Ton is less than pleased to have a new puppy in the house, especially when spats leave Won Ton (not the newcomer) exiled to the yard. Still, familiarity does the trick, and harmony regains peaceful sway by the end.
Showing posts with label Claire Masurel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Claire Masurel. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Tuesday Storytime: Halloween
Halloween is this weekend! Yay!
I very much wanted to read the newest Ladybug Girl book from David Soman and Jacky Davis (Ladybug Girl and the Dress-up Dilemma) because Ladybug Girl! Halloween! Costumes! But it was rainy and nasty out, so we had a room full of babies, and it was just too long to suit. Maybe next year!
At the Old Haunted House
Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Nate Wragg
ISBN: 9781477847695
Takes the venerable "Over in the Meadow" rhyme and re-sets it in a spooky haunted mansion.
Sweet and slightly spooky, we have a house-full of beasties and haunts; everything from black cats to spiders to ghosts to werewolves, all doing various spooky things to the Over in the Meadow pattern of call and response. The illustrations are cute, and the payoff at the end is quick and a little abrupt - a set of trick-or-treating kids gets invited into a monster party at the house (which is what all the scary actions from before were in preparation for). Fun and the close relation to the nursery rhyme makes it less likely to give offense.
10 Trick-or-Treaters
Janet Schulman, illustrated by Linda Davick
ISBN: 9780385736145
Another variation of a nursery rhyme has a party of costumed trick-or-treaters slowly dwindling as the night wears on.
This one is adorable. We have our line of trick-or-treaters, which gets whittled down rapidly as the participants are scared in turns by various animals or other costumed people (or dragged off to bed by their parents) and as the countdown winds to a close, we end with our last brave soul in bed, dreaming sugar-fueled dreams of Halloween. Again, the very determinedly pastel and lighthearted artwork and the resemblance to the counting rhyme make this a most inoffensive option.
Happy Halloween, Emily!
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Susan Calitri
ISBN: 0448426919
Emily the bunny is a bit concerned about the Halloween Parade coming up. Will it be too scary?
I like this one because it's very straightforward about the potential for scary things on Halloween, but emphasizes that they're not real, only pretend, and only people that you know already dressing up strangely. Emily is a little hesitant about the potential for scares at the Halloween Parade, especially since her three friends are super excited about the "horrible monsters" "spooky ghosts" and "scary dinosaurs" that will be there. Back at home Emily reassures herself and her baby brother (a good audience stand-in) that her witch costume isn't "too scary" before her mother in a very silly bunny-eared ghost costume tries to scare her, and her father does likewise in a scarecrow outfit. Again, nothing even remotely scary about any of the appearances. Family all together, they head for the Parade, where her friends are dressed as the scary things they were predicting, but they aren't scary at all. Even the parade is shown in broad daylight, and all of the costumes are light-hearted and gentle. I love that it puts attention on the worries of young children, while staying focused on the goal - to keep them from being actually scared of a mostly lighthearted child-centered holiday.
I very much wanted to read the newest Ladybug Girl book from David Soman and Jacky Davis (Ladybug Girl and the Dress-up Dilemma) because Ladybug Girl! Halloween! Costumes! But it was rainy and nasty out, so we had a room full of babies, and it was just too long to suit. Maybe next year!
At the Old Haunted House
Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Nate Wragg
ISBN: 9781477847695
Takes the venerable "Over in the Meadow" rhyme and re-sets it in a spooky haunted mansion.
Sweet and slightly spooky, we have a house-full of beasties and haunts; everything from black cats to spiders to ghosts to werewolves, all doing various spooky things to the Over in the Meadow pattern of call and response. The illustrations are cute, and the payoff at the end is quick and a little abrupt - a set of trick-or-treating kids gets invited into a monster party at the house (which is what all the scary actions from before were in preparation for). Fun and the close relation to the nursery rhyme makes it less likely to give offense.
10 Trick-or-Treaters
Janet Schulman, illustrated by Linda Davick
ISBN: 9780385736145
Another variation of a nursery rhyme has a party of costumed trick-or-treaters slowly dwindling as the night wears on.
This one is adorable. We have our line of trick-or-treaters, which gets whittled down rapidly as the participants are scared in turns by various animals or other costumed people (or dragged off to bed by their parents) and as the countdown winds to a close, we end with our last brave soul in bed, dreaming sugar-fueled dreams of Halloween. Again, the very determinedly pastel and lighthearted artwork and the resemblance to the counting rhyme make this a most inoffensive option.
Happy Halloween, Emily!
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Susan Calitri
ISBN: 0448426919
Emily the bunny is a bit concerned about the Halloween Parade coming up. Will it be too scary?
I like this one because it's very straightforward about the potential for scary things on Halloween, but emphasizes that they're not real, only pretend, and only people that you know already dressing up strangely. Emily is a little hesitant about the potential for scares at the Halloween Parade, especially since her three friends are super excited about the "horrible monsters" "spooky ghosts" and "scary dinosaurs" that will be there. Back at home Emily reassures herself and her baby brother (a good audience stand-in) that her witch costume isn't "too scary" before her mother in a very silly bunny-eared ghost costume tries to scare her, and her father does likewise in a scarecrow outfit. Again, nothing even remotely scary about any of the appearances. Family all together, they head for the Parade, where her friends are dressed as the scary things they were predicting, but they aren't scary at all. Even the parade is shown in broad daylight, and all of the costumes are light-hearted and gentle. I love that it puts attention on the worries of young children, while staying focused on the goal - to keep them from being actually scared of a mostly lighthearted child-centered holiday.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Tuesday Storytime: Almost-Fairy-Tales
These are fairy-tale-ish stories that I've enjoyed, but aren't as long or complicated as actual fairy tales, nor as short and simplistic as nursery rhymes. Halfway between.
Knick Knack Paddy Whack
SteveSongs, illustrated by Christiane Engel
ISBN: 9781846861444
Lively collage village full of people and activity.
This doesn't keep to the original rhyme, and the last stanza is horribly out of meter, but regardless, it's cute and fun, and a good simple introduction to this sort of nursery-rhyme song. And yes, I do sing. Badly today, as I'm suffering a bit of a cold, but it was sung.
The Wee Little Woman
Byron Barton
ISBN: 0060233877
Blocky shapes, thick black outlines, and bright primary colors identify this as a Barton book.
I love the simple message of this story - words have power. A wee little woman has gone and gotten milk from her wee little cow (I'm eliding the many wee little implements and steps this process takes) but her wee little cat snitches the milk that she left on the table. She yells, he flees, and they're both sad until he returns to find her waiting with a bowl of milk just for him. Perfect narrative structure, perfect amount of conflict and peril (kitty looks very sad in a black page full of stars), and perfect simple reconciliation.
Big Bad Wolf
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Melissa Iwai
ISBN: 0439282438
Die-cut holes reveal aspects of the "Big Bad Wolf" who really isn't so bad in person.
The villagers live in fear of the big bad wolf, but he's really a sweet dad wolf who works and plays in the woods all day, then goes home for dinner with his cubs and then transforms into a super-scary wolf to chase them all into bed and give them kisses. Adorable, and a nice short big-bad-wolf story. (Another excellent one is Wolf's Coming (Joe Kulka, ISBN: 9781575059303), which is a LOT more ominous in tone - I've actually made kids cry with that one.)
Knick Knack Paddy Whack
SteveSongs, illustrated by Christiane Engel
ISBN: 9781846861444
Lively collage village full of people and activity.
This doesn't keep to the original rhyme, and the last stanza is horribly out of meter, but regardless, it's cute and fun, and a good simple introduction to this sort of nursery-rhyme song. And yes, I do sing. Badly today, as I'm suffering a bit of a cold, but it was sung.
The Wee Little Woman
Byron Barton
ISBN: 0060233877
Blocky shapes, thick black outlines, and bright primary colors identify this as a Barton book.
I love the simple message of this story - words have power. A wee little woman has gone and gotten milk from her wee little cow (I'm eliding the many wee little implements and steps this process takes) but her wee little cat snitches the milk that she left on the table. She yells, he flees, and they're both sad until he returns to find her waiting with a bowl of milk just for him. Perfect narrative structure, perfect amount of conflict and peril (kitty looks very sad in a black page full of stars), and perfect simple reconciliation.
Big Bad Wolf
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Melissa Iwai
ISBN: 0439282438
Die-cut holes reveal aspects of the "Big Bad Wolf" who really isn't so bad in person.
The villagers live in fear of the big bad wolf, but he's really a sweet dad wolf who works and plays in the woods all day, then goes home for dinner with his cubs and then transforms into a super-scary wolf to chase them all into bed and give them kisses. Adorable, and a nice short big-bad-wolf story. (Another excellent one is Wolf's Coming (Joe Kulka, ISBN: 9781575059303), which is a LOT more ominous in tone - I've actually made kids cry with that one.)
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